Once again Town fell to two set piece goals, attacked throughout but got no return, despite creating point blank opportunities.

As usual, Chertsey started like a train and looked world beaters in the first few minutes with Dean Papali and Marcus Moody both going close to opening up the score.

The home side continued to press for a full half hour but without any end result.

The ball was being delivered well from the right but no connection was being made with Moody, sliding in at close range, being the closest to success.

Tom O’Regan also had a shot well saved after cutting in from the same sector.

Chessington had hardly featured in attack up to that point but on 34 minutes, a long Zak Graham throw in from the right side saw the ball flicked on to Dan Lawrence.

He was given time to nick the ball up and volley it powerfully home from ten yards with Chertsey’s defence slow to react.

Papali hooked the ball wide with Dan Fisher in the Chessington goal off station just after the break.

It signalled Chertsey’s determination to fully wrestle back the initiative but matters went awry again in the 53rd minute when goal attempt number two from Chessington met with success.

A free kick near the halfway line which should have been taken from the touchline but somehow was allowed to be delivered eight yards in proved devastating.

The delivery was not properly cleared and it ran to Malik Buari who side footed the lose ball into the net to make a mockery of the balance of play but highlighted the need to be decisive in front of goal.

Midfield superiority and good possession means nothing if it not capitalise upon which is what was happening again for the second successive match.

Within five minutes, a triple substitution manoeuvre took place over a ten minutes period, first with Matt Baxter replacing James McCluskey in his first start in Chertsey colours, then Andy Crossley for Trevor Charlery and Steve Tyson for Simon Cox as the accent went onto attacking with even more gusto.

The ploy might have worked as Chertsey had better success opening up the Chessington defence. A fierce shot parried by Fisher fell to Tyson but he missed the gapping goal in front of him on the rebound might have given his side half a chance.

But Chessington were hell bent on holding on to their lead and a succession of stoppages broke up play. A break though was achieved on 83 minutes to give Chertsey hope when Moody cut along the goal line on the left and fired in a fierce low cross.

The speed of the ball put the visitor’s defence in a near impossible position and the ball was poached by Baxter who smashed into the net from inside the six yard box.

Any hope of Town snatching a point drifted away, along with any momentum the game might have engineered towards the end.

Hardly a minute of play went by without some sort of stoppage for either Chessington injuries, tardy ball retrieval or sloppiness when the ball was not in play.

The tactic worked as next to no football ensued despite the referee adding eight minutes for these moments, which was still woefully short of making up for lost time.

But the situation would not have arrived had Chertsey made their superior possession and goal scoring chances count. It was an evening of lost opportunities but at least the foundation of the side was sound despite the loss of their hitherto winning ways.